Wednesday, May 10, 2006

OGGI Ethnic Italian Cuisine – Goungzhou

Guangzhou has an amazing assortment of eateries. Although it is difficult to navigate a menu in most Chinese restaurants, there are a wide variety of continental restaurants catering to the less adventurous palettes. Sometimes I have to entertain vegetarian clients and apart from Indian food, the only other real safe bet is Italian. So last week I found my self at OGGI.

OGGI Italian Restaurant is located on Tien He. It is a pretty long street but the building has a prominent design so you should not miss it. It is right on the corner in fact. The surrounding area is also clean and pleasant to walk around.

The interior design is very warm. The thick wooden beams that support the structure are exposed and the lighting is quite soft. The flooring is terracotta tile which extenuates a very Tuscan vibe.

As for the food, it was awesome. I started off with this plate of assorted clod cuts that was served with bread and cheese. At first I thought they would just have some Danish Ham, Parma Ham, and Salami, but I was quite impressed at the spread, and the size of the serving. That is something I noticed in China too, the servings are all very large.

I topped that off with this pizza. I can’t remember what exactly I had on it but it was mighty good. It had that perfect wood oven flavor. The last place I remember having that in Jakarta was Salasa Bar in Kemang. They are closed now.

My guests went for this vegetarian pizza which they enjoyed thoroughly. The ingredients were very fresh. The service was a bit slow but it was a public holiday so I guess everyone was pretty laid back. If you are in Guangzhou, this place is a must do.